The year was 1981 -
- An actor
becomes the 40th United States President
- The first flight of
the US Space Shuttle Columbia
- Post It Notes are launched by 3M
Corp.
- MS DOS IS released by Microsoft
- IBM, in the U.S.,
launches its first PC which uses: Microsoft Software MS DOS
- The
term Internet is first mentioned
- Inflation rate was 10.3%
Closer to home, in a small township named Brandon, located in
northern Oakland County Michigan, two other historical first were
started: "Toys for Tots" which was formed by the local Brandon Fire
Department and, the Ortonville Community Emergency Fund, or OCEF,
which was formed by two locals: Sue Howard and Pyhllis Barnwell.
"Toys for Tots" and "OCEF" both had very simple agenda's, give
support to families that are less fortunate.
Originally
named "Toys for Tots", the Marines requested that the BFD change the
name, presumably because the Fire Departments main objective was
different than that of the Marines.
Fast forward twenty-one
years to 2002 -
- Multimillion dollar companies are filing for
Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection
- Tornadoes sweep accross the
United States, leaving a multitude of fatalities from Louisiana to
Pennsylvania on Veterans Day.
- Wildfires destroy 500,000 acres
in Oregon's Siskiyou National Forest
- Inflation rate is now
97.9% higher than 21 years before.
During these last 21
years, the Toy Store and OCEF continued on. Still keeping that
simple agenda: give support to families that are less fortunate.
During this 21st year, The Toy Store and OCEF also changed. A
positive change was made which combined the efforts of each
organiztion. The Toy Store was incorporated into OCEF for the first
time.
In 2009, OCEF became a 501c3 tax exempt organization.
Because their mission statement was different that that of the Toy
Store, OCEF could no longer legally sponsor the Toy Store. Therefore
in January of 2010, the Toy Store finally became its own non-profit
organization, and for that reason, changed its name for the second
time in its 29 year existence, We are now known as the "Community
Christmas Toy Store" or Brandon CCTS.
Since 2012 all donations,
be them monetary, gifts, or volunteer time are now tax exempt
according to the IRS Publication 557 / 501c3 definition.
Collectively over the last 32 years, the CCTS, with support of the
local community has ensured that over 8,000 children have not been left out
at Christmas, and that number continues to grow each year.
We're On! Follow Us On:
~ U.S. Mail Address ~
Community Christmas Toy Store
P.O. Box 733
Ortonville, Mich. 48462
1-248-627-2641
Click on our 501(c)(3) Org # 27-2467807
to view our IRS deduction status.